Paint Party Friday: "I Am Made of Stars"

"I Am Made of Stars"

9 x 12; cold pressed watercolor paper

Happy PPF . . . .

I hope this finds you well! I've had a couple of busy, arty days and am filled with joy because of it. I just came off of a long stretch absent of creativity and missed it so much. It's crazy how much our moods can be lifted when we give time to ourselves, right?! 

Anyway, this week's painting was inspired by a book I was meant to read. I picked it up from one of my Mom's bookshelves a week ago, set it aside, and then (like a new word you've just learned and then keep hearing everywhere) for some reason people kept asking me if I'd read it. Seriously, like 3 people in a week - over a book from the 90's that I had never heard about until a few days ago! I took that as a major sign, and got to reading. Well, if you've ever experienced The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz), you'll understand why I read it in a matter of a few hours. It really is inspired.

And inspired I was then to create this - "I Am Made of Stars" - a 9 x 12 mixed media painting on watercolor:

Created on a gessoed surface with multiple layers of stamping and doodling

Sentiment written on neck with both matte and glitter pens

Also used: iridescent confetti stars and silver leaf

And here she is in her entirety:

Thank you for your time, thanks to Kristin & Eva for hosting PPF and have a happy, creative weekend. Perhaps with a trip to the bookstore thrown in for good luck. . . .

Kristin xo

2 Girls, 2 Journals, 1 Week . . .

"Journaling One Week"

Watercolor and Wallpaper Journal

I laughed out loud when I saw it. I was reading our friend Daniele's blog a few weeks ago when I saw a gorgeous photo she posted of a latte resting on top of the newest issue of Stampington's Art Journaling. She mentioned that she'd just been on an "alone date" and was thrilled with her coffee and new source of inspiration. Ironically, I got out of the house that day too and did the same thing! A latte and the latest Art Journaling was the way I too choose to spend a few moments alone . . . .

Well, one thing led to another and we got to talking. We discussed how although we've both done journal entries before, that at least for me, it never really included the journaling part. We wanted to give this style of art a real try, but agreed that we needed to come up with something that could be completed in a reasonable amount of time. That idea lead to what you see here: the journal entries of two girls - who's lives are filled with art and kids - completed in just one week.

The concept was to spend just an hour a day working on what would become seven journal pages. If you're laughing now, it's because you already know what I didn't: that we would both end up spending every spare moment on it, pouring our hearts and souls into what has become a true reflection of our innermost thoughts, if only for one week.

Here's what I came up with:

To see the beautiful (ok, fabulous and moving) pages Daniele created, please check hers out here.

Thank you for your visit! I so appreciate your time . . . .

Linking to PPF and Just Journals. Thank you Kristin, Eva and Marcia Beckett!


Kristin xo

Works in Progress . . .

"Silly Boys" (Detail)

I've been Arting a lot lately, but you wouldn't know it by looking here. I have something up my sleeve that I hope to have completed in time to share with you next week . . . . Meanwhile, I wanted to sneak in a few detail shots of the WIP's here.

Handmade papers

"Afraid to Jump" (Detail)

(Image from Retro Cafe Art)

"She wanted to be a Star" (Detail)

Thank you for your time & Happy Arting to you,

Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday (Week 32)

"You Are Here"

4 x 6 

Detail

I've been bit by the painting bug lately, thanks to the weekly art and imagination found over at Paint Party Friday. . . big hugs to Eva and Kristin for their time and dedication in hosting this beautiful community.

"You Are Here" was inspired by the directional maps often found in large malls in which a red dot shows the pedestrian (or lost shopper ;) their location. I used both Golden Acrylics and Caran D' Ache watercolor crayons in addition to a bit of Stickles glitter on the heart, er dot . . .

Thanks for stopping by: to see more painterly pieces, check out the Party for yourself . . . 

Kristin xo

Because You Went Away

"Because You Went Away"

12 x 12 Mixed Media Collage

(Images from Retro Cafe Art)

I believe that art is magical. Magical because even when you don't intend (or are even aware) of what you may be creating, a story is being told. A story that only you can tell. And for me, when I get out of my own way and just allow the story to unfold, I find that there are many lessons to be learned.

Case in point: I've had a hard week. In moments of sadness, I went into my studio and tried to play. Play with paint, play with a new song book (found in the post below) and yesterday, I played with a background that I'd made a while back with Shiva Paintstiks. I sat down without knowing what to do and just cut and pasted. I played with the idea of using transparencies and and played with new collage sheets that I just received from Retro Cafe Art, but most of all, I just played without thinking.

When I looked up, I realized that I had created something that came from deep within. Even though I went into the studio to get away from it all, it all came back to me in the form of this collage. The text (which is actually a portion of a poem by Ella Darling Peed) reads, "With all these things / it's not a home / Because you went away." 

Without getting all sappy on you, I will say that this is about our family cat that we lost Monday. She was 17 years old. She was in a lot of pain, but in the moments just before she took her last breath, she started to purr. That made me feel better. . . 

Kristin xo

Hello, Mojo!

"Mother is Out"

6 x 8 Altered Vintage Golden Book Cover

(Images from Lisa's Altered Art)

Hello, Mojo!

Thanks for coming back. Now, will you please stop hogging all the iced coffee?

Kristin xo

The Summer of Color: BLUE

"The Wishing Well"

8 x 10 Journal loose-leaf page

Can we talk?

Before we go any further, I want to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude for the tremendous response we have had for this event. I'm blown away by the amount of participants joining The Summer of Color and am honored by your excitement and enthusiasm. It looks like we're in for a fabulous Summer of creating, community and connection.  . . 

What's everyone doing?

Last week's challenge was to tell us what you are planning to create during the event. It seems that the freedom to do anything you want was very popular and because of that, we have an amazing assortment of art and inspiration to look forward to. In case you're curious, the majority of us will be doing some sort of art journaling, followed closely by ATC's, color inspiration / altered books and scrapbooking. There will also be some doing canvas work, cards, collages, altered objects, illustrations and/or sketchbooks, digital art and photography. A few are planning to work with fabric or felting and we even have a poet, jewelry artist, one who restores furniture and an artist working on fairies. We will be seeing work with teabag paper (how cool is that?), oils and of course, some who will be doing a little bit of everything. I'm so looking forward to learning from all of you - thanks again for sharing your talents with us all . . .

A little bit of business:

In all of the excitement of the opening week, there were a few of us who got started on their artwork a little early (so we've had a sneak peek of some beautiful work ;). If you linked up with blue on last week's post, I would be so grateful if you would link it again this week. Those who wrote about their plans for the event qualified for last week's giveaway, which was the assortment of art supplies. Because the first week was a little tricky to decipher, I selected the winner by randomly drawing a name out of a hat (okay, bowl) and checked to make sure she had met the first week's requirements. From next week on, I will use a random number generator from the comments section. This will make more sense when it comes time for bonus weeks, when you are able to enter twice should you complete the bonus challenge. So, the linking is for us to easily find one another and the comments are to sign up for the giveaway. Lastly, you will always know a week ahead of time what your next color challenge will be. That way, you have time to plan and prepare your work.  . . 

Okay, okay, so who won?

Drawing for last week's giveaway of art supplies

Congratulations! The winner of the assortment of art supplies from last week's drawing (pictured in the post below) is: You! Please email me your address and I will get it out right away.

Now, welcome to Blue week!

As of today (from Monday the 13th to Sunday the 19th), you may post your artwork based upon the color Blue. To do so, please share your piece on your blog with a link back here (so that others can find us) and then link your direct post to the linking widget below. To enter the blue giveaway, please leave a comment in the comment section.

The Blue giveaway for the week is . . .

Large Martha Stewart fine glitter in turquoise, 2 bottles of Martha Stewart flocking powder in Robin's Egg and Turquoise, a Martha Stewart ballpoint tip glue pen (and believe me, you want this ;) and a sprinkling of pale blue, clear and iridescent Swarovski crystals and beads. 

Also:

Please feel free to share your work on our Facebook page and our Flickr group which you can always find on the sidebar here . . .

And what will we be working on next week (from Monday the 20th to Sunday the 26th)? 

Green!

"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which it's loveliness arises." 

- Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Bonus! 

For Green week, your bonus challenge (for a chance to be entered twice in the Green giveaway) will be to incorporate the color Citron in your piece. Have fun . . .

Kristin xo